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BRUSSELS Bart Starr Jersey , Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Amazon's tiny tax bill in contrast to its huge European revenues sparked outrage among industry peers, who called for an end to the ""deeply unfair"" tax system.


The online retail giant paid just 16.5 million euros (19.5 million U.S. dollars) in tax on European revenues of 21.6 billion euors (25.5 billion dollars) reported through Luxembourg in 2016, the Guardian reported Thursday, citing the company's latest annual accounts for its European online retail business.


Amazon U.K. services, the company's warehouse and logistics operation, more than halved its U.K. corporation tax bill from 15.8 million British pounds (20.4 million dollars) to 7.4 million pounds (9.6 million dollars) year-on-year in 2016 Ty Montgomery Jersey , whereas turnover at the U.K. business rose to almost 1.5 billion pounds (1.9 billion dollars) in 2016, reported the Guardian.


Amazon's controversial tax bill caused a widespread outcry amont local bricks-and-mortar bookstores which found it increasingly hard to compete against the e-commerce giant.


""This deeply unfair system must end,"" the Booksellers Association's head of corporate affairs Giles Clifton told the Guardian. ""It is simply wrong that the current system is so heavily weighted against bricks-and-mortar retailers.""


""Despite some action by ministers and companies, widespread corporate tax avoidance continues to cost both rich and poor countries billions every year that could pay for schools and lifesaving healthcare,"" Ana Arendar, Oxfam's head of inequality Montravius Adams Jersey , told the Guardian.


Oxfam called for the British government to implement comprehensive reporting for multinationals to ensure they pay a fair share of tax.


In response to the criticism, a spokesperson for Amazon told the Guardian that Amazon pays ""all the taxes that are required in every country"" where it operates.


""We've invested over 20 billion euros (23.6 billion dollars) in Europe since 2010, and expect to hire 15,000 new employees this year, bringing our total permanent European workforce to over 65,000 people Josh Jones Jersey ,"" the spokesperson added.


Amazon runs a very successful business with a market cap of 465 billion dollars, almost double the market value of U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart.


Late last month, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos claimed the crown of the world's richest man with a net worth of roughly 90 billion dollars, briefly kicking Microsoft founder Bill Gates out of the top spot on the Forbes' Real Time Billionaires List.


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" " Photo taken on Feb. 26, 2017 shows a solar eclipse in Villa Manihuales Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey , Chile, on Feb. 26, 2017. (Xinhua file photoPedro Vega LabraAGENCIA UNO)

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Thomas Hwang, a retina expert at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Casey Eye Institute, has a critical warning for spectators out to see a total solar eclipse on Monday.


""If you look directly at the eclipse J'Mon Moore Jersey , it can burn your retina in mere seconds and can cause permanent damage,"" Hwang, an associate professor of ophthalmology in the OHSU School of Medicine, was quoted as saying in a web posting updated in recent days.


Oregon, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, will be the first of 12 states in the United States to get a front row seat to observe the rare celestial event on Monday Oren Burks Jersey , August 21 - a total solar eclipse - where the moon completely covers the sun, and the sky goes dark in mid-daylight.


Scheduled to hit the U.S. West Coast around 10 a.m. Pacific time, there will be the most powerful ""path of totality"" going straight through Oregon, as it will last 2.5 minutes when the moon completely covers the sun.


The event is rare for two reasons: it will be the first total solar eclipse visible only in the United States since 1776 and the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire country in 99 years.


On his part, Hwang said the total solar eclipse can deliver a lot of energy to the center of vision, even when things seem kind of dark. He noted that most people normally would not look at the sun directly Kenny Clark Jersey , but may not be as hesitant to look at a solar eclipse because it isn't as bright.


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